In Tulare County, many people work for little pay on large farms in California’s fertile Central Valley. Some of these families aren’t getting proper nutrition, leading to diet-related conditions, like obesity and diabetes. When the local food bank revamped their nutrition policy to encourage more fresh produce donations, Sarah Ramirez, a local health leader used her hard-earned knowledge and passion to support that policy, and implemented a creative way to get the valley’s extra fruits and veggies into the hands of those who need them.
The Problem of Unhealthy Food in the Community
Awareness: In Tulare County in California’s fertile Central Valley, fresh produce grows all over the place. But for many area residents, this healthy produce doesn’t end up on their ...
Jeff Anderson, a parent at Wolftrap Elementary School in Fairfax, Va., wanted his daughter to bike to school. Unfortunately, the school had no bike racks. He went to the principal and the school installed bike racks. But he did more than ask for bike racks. Anderson joined other parents, school officials, and community partners to improve one of the school district’s transportation policies. Now parents from all over the community have created safe routes for kids to walk and bike to district schools.
The Issue of a Lack of Safe Places to Play
Awareness: In Spring 2008, Jeff Anderson noticed that there were no bike racks at Wolftrap Elementary School in Vienna, Va., a city with a 12% Latino population. An avid bicyclist, Anderson wanted his then-first-grade daughter to learn ...
A new obesity management program will use family counseling, text messages and newsletters to control weight and spark healthier eating and physical activity habits in obese/overweight kids, thanks to a five-year $2.9 million federal grant awarded to researchers at the UT Health San Antonio. Researchers will develop and test the six-month program among 230 child-parent pairs in three pediatric clinics of the University Health System. Half the child-parent pairs will get in-clinic counseling on how to make healthy changes. The other half will get the same in-clinic counseling—plus phone counseling and culturally tailored text messages and newsletters to reinforce changes suggested through counseling. “We believe kids in the more intensive group will significantly ...
A group of local women in the park-poor city of Santa Ana, Calif., were desperate to have a safe place for their children to play. One mom, Irma Rivera, saw a child almost get hit by a car while playing in an empty parking lot, and she vowed to do something about the lack of safe active spaces. She and other moms went to non-profit group Latino Health Access (LHA) for support and found that the group was willing to champion the cause. Through teamwork, determination and perseverance, LHA and the moms managed to get land and funding to build the area’s first-ever public park and community center for people in south Santa Ana.
The Issue of a Lack of Safe Places to Play
Awareness: People in Santa Ana, Calif., struggle with poverty, language and other challenges, obesity, and ...
Because some kids tend to drink more sugary drinks than others, healthy beverage strategies have the potential to impact health in big ways. In Washington, community partners are teaming-up with schools and lawmakers to come up with ways to encourage kids to quench their thirst with water, not sugar.
The Issue of Sugary Drinks
Awareness/Learn: Childhood obesity is a problem in the state of Washington, which is 11% Latino. In 2012, 25% of Washington children ages 2-4 who received benefits from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) were overweight or obese, according to the state’s Department of Health. About 23% the state’s 10th graders were overweight or obese. Sugary drinks, like soda, juice, and sweetened milk, are a major ...
Breast cancer survivors can now join a new study to learn how certain foods may reduce the risk of cancer recurrence. The study, Rx for Better Breast Health, is funded by Susan G. Komen for the Cure and led by Dr. Amelie Ramirez, professor and director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at UT Health San Antonio. Breast cancer survivors who participate will be randomly assigned to one of two groups. Each group will get different cancer nutrition tools, possibly six cooking demonstrations by Chef Iverson Brownell, who creates innovative culinary recipes that taste great and promote health (see his video). “We want to teach survivors the importance of a dietary plan full of foods with disease-fighting properties,” said Ramirez, who also is associate ...
Northgate González Market has come a long way since its humble beginnings. The family-owned and operated California-based grocery store chain, originally founded by people Jalisco in 1980, went from one 2,500-square-foot store to now 42 stores located throughout Southern California. Despite Northgate’s success, its owners have not forgotten their origins. They seek to offer high-quality products and improve the quality of life for the local community through their Viva la Salud! Program, which includes bilingual healthy food labels and an entire marketing program aimed at helping customers make wise food-purchasing decisions as part of a healthy lifestyle.
The Issue of Unhealthy Local Food
Awareness: Victor González, Senior VP of Marketing at González Northgate Markets, a ...
The southern area of Santa Ana, Calif., had limited places to be active—and not a single park. Desperate for more active spaces to give them more chances to get fit and avoid disease and obesity, residents pushed for and received a new park, Corazones Verdes Park. While park construction remained underway, members of Latino Health Access sought alternative active spaces. That’s when they came up with the idea of creating a Wellness Corridor through downtown Santa Ana. Now partners from across the city are discussing ways to make the community more walkable, and residents of all ages are learning to effectively voice the need for healthy options.
The Issue of Active Spaces and Obesity
Awareness: America Bracho, a Venezuelan-born physician and public health advocate for the ...
Growing up in Spain, Dr. Marta Katalenas ate home-cooked meals made with fresh ingredients. When she moved to the United States in 1984 to learn English and become a pediatrician, she saw a different way of life that included way more treats, especially sugary juices and drinks. As she began her practice, she said she saw a growing association between kids drinking too much sugar and being overweight. Dr. Katalenas decided that if she was going to help parents set their kids on a path of health, she needed to get the whole community involved in reducing sugary drink consumption—so she made reducing sugary drinks part of her new monthly health challenge for families.
The Issue of Sugary Drinks and Obesity Awareness: Spain native Dr. Marta Katalenas, who moved to the U.S. ...
